A Forever Home
by Eloise Tyraline
Summary: Enola lives in a Children's home in Malibu & is horrified to learn she's going to public school, there she befriends Jackson & they begin to fall for one another. Will a cruel twist of fate take her away from the only person she has ever loved? JACKSONxOC
1. Field Trip

Claire grimaced as a gaggle of shoppers swarmed around her, many of them laden with heavy bags and eyeing the shop displays hungrily – searching for a bargain.

"Enola!" a woman called from the doorway of a Café, "Over here, come quickly! I told you to stay in pairs!" Claire grimaced and sidled through the crowd to the woman who had called her, and the group of adolescents with her.

"Sue! Don't call me Enola, I hate it! Call me Claire!"

"Very well _Claire_" Her carer replied, "walk next to Jennifer, the bus is due in ten minutes and we don't want to be late for dinner, there's a dear." Sue finished distractedly as Claire fell obediently in line with Jen – a brown-eyed girl with freckly skin and more dark brown hair than she knew what to do with; said hair was currently scraped up into a messy ponytail.

Claire sighed, relieved. The group from the children's home had been traipsing around the mall on an obligatory 'field trip' for the last hour and a half – looking at beautiful clothes, sparkling jewellery and the latest games and DVDs – it would've been great, if she could afford any of it.

As they made their way towards the bus stop in crocodile fashion Claire pulled absent-mindedly at her frayed and worn t-shirt and stared at her oversized jeans, thinking of the gorgeous aqua blue satin top she had seen earlier. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bus' horn and they all clambered aboard being checked off by another woman – Caitlyn. Claire plopped down on a seat near the back and longed for home – dreaming of the macaroni and cheese she had seen being prepared earlier.

"Tamara – what is that!?" Came Sue's outraged voice from the front of the bus. Claire didn't even bother to look up; Tamara was a compulsive liar and a thief to boot. Sure enough, Claire could hear her pleading her innocence;

"It's mine honest, my dad sent it to me, f-for my birthday… Please Sue… Please!"

"Oh really? And how do you explain the security tag?" Tamara remained silent,

"I have had _enough_ of this behaviour young lady!" Sue stormed, Claire heard Tamara sniffle "No good crying now Tamara, you should've thought about that before you stole this! Come with me! We are going to return this and _you_ are going to apologise!" Claire glanced at the scene and saw Sue seize Tamara by the hand and march her off the bus and back towards the mall; holding a ruby-red dress in the other hand – security tag clearly visible. Claire's stomach rumbled and she sighed loudly. It was another 15 minutes before Sue returned with a red-faced Tamara who sat down meekly and promptly averted her gaze to the floor.

Half an hour later and Claire was seated in the canteen wolfing down her macaroni cheese as fast as she could – second helpings were limited and mac 'n' cheese was her favourite. As she stood in the queue for her next helping, she turned her attention to the adult and carers table after hearing mention of her name…

"Yes well Enola has progressed very well – I think that's a wonderful idea, of course we'll have to run it by Rick-" _Rick_ Claire thought... 'Rick' was Dr.Seilstein the resident psychiatrist. Every now and then Claire was ushered into his whitewashed office and probed about her feelings 'Was she sleeping well?' 'Had she had any problems?' 'How was her tutoring going?' she hated the prospect of another consultation with Dr.Seilstein who insisted on revisiting all the occasions she had been unhappy over the past 15 years, but was intrigued as to what they were referring to. She wouldn't have to wait long to find out, and it was going to change everything.

**Okay so I have written fanfic before, but never on Hannah Montana and never for this site – reviews would be extremely helpful (:**

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Hannah Montana© but oh, how I wish I did…_


	2. Bad News

The next day, as anticipated, Claire was escorted into Dr.Seilstein's office.

"Hello Claire." He said cheerfully, pointing her to a vacant chair. "How are you?" Claire just stared at him; she had a funny feeling about this and not in a good way. Dr.Seilstein obviously picked up on this. "Well I'll get straight to the point shall I?" He glanced over to her and she nodded mutely to show she was listening, he continued; "Claire you've been doing very well, Mr.Russ told me you've been getting along very well with your studies, he's most pleased with your grades; Sue and Caitlyn tell me you're very well behaved, helpful, polite… You went to the mall yesterday didn't you?"

Claire nodded.

"Did you enjoy it?" At this, she gave a non-committal jerk of her head.

"I guess…" She said untruthfully – willing him to get to the point.

"Here at the home we feel you're developing into a well-rounded person and before long your education will be finished and you'll be seeking employment…" He faltered at Claire's cold stare, _what the hell is he getting at?_ She wondered, "We-we think it's time to try to make some changes, to er, _prepare_ you for life outside the home." _Life outside the home? Am I leaving? Has someone chosen me?_

She felt her spirits lift ever so slightly. At 15, she was almost an adult, hardly the most desirable foster kid – not that she'd _never _been chosen before… She'd had dozens of foster parents, none of whom could cope with her, and as she'd gotten older she'd seen less and less prospective parents and more and more of the Children's Home. Well, when it was between her and a cute little five year old… She frowned, noticing this Dr.Seilstein continued, "We think it's time you started attending public school." She gawped at him, horrified.

"What?" She choked, as waves of nausea churned in her stomach.

"Public School." Said Dr.Seilstein again "Now Claire, don't look at me like that, we feel this is a necessary step to-"

"To _what_ exactly?" Claire yelled, "To humiliate me? To hurt me?" She took a deep shuddering breath and continued in a frightened whisper; "I can't do this Dr.Seilstein all those people, _hundreds_ of them, I won't know anyone. Why do I need to go anyway? My grades are fine! You said it yourself!"

"This isn't about grades Claire." He said sounding suddenly stern, "This is about a 15 year old girl socialising with others her own age! To become a well-"

"Maybe I don't want to be a well rounded person!" Claire howled, her eyes bright with tears. "No-one else has to go; Jen's older than me! And Ruth! And… And…" She trailed off, apart from Jennifer and Ruth – she was the oldest girl in the home.

"Claire, you must understand that Jennifer and Ruth couldn't cope with the emotional demands of public school."

"What makes you think I can?!" She bellowed, tears streaming down her face. "What about my attacks?"

"Your panic attacks have become much less frequent – we've worked hard on your agoraphobia and techniques to deal with any attacks you may suffer, I am certain you will be okay."

"But."

"Enough Claire, you start on Monday – Caitlyn has bought you the necessary books and equipment, if there is anything else you need let her or Sue know."

Claire sat for a while in silence, defeated – mind whirring desperately, trying to find a solution… Because unless she did she'd be confronted in three days time with hundreds of people she had never met, who were sure to make fun of her for her scruffy clothes, smelly hand-me-down sneakers and lack of make-up.

**Reviews would be extremely helpful (:**

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Hannah Montana© but oh, how I wish I did…_


	3. Sea View Hell School

Jackson fumbled for the alarm clock on his nightstand and groaned; it was 6:30 am on a Monday morning and not even light outside. He edged slowly across the room - wading through piles of dirty laundry, candy wrappers and discarded pizza boxes until he reached the door, once outside the pleasant smell of pancakes engulfed him and he hurried downstairs for breakfast.

Meanwhile at Malibu's resident Children's Home a disgruntled Enola was packing her things for her first day at public school.

"My, my! Dressed already Claire? You are keen!" Caitlyn chirruped as she helped some of the younger girls into their clothes, Claire shot her the most hateful look she could muster and swept from the room before another word was said.

"Leanne?" Claire mumbled twenty minutes later, filing into the canteen with the other girls from her dorm and sitting next to a ferocious looking girl. Leanne merely nodded to show she was listening and continued eating her cereal.

"C-can I buy a carton of cigarettes from you?" Leanne did not react immediately – but laid down her spoon and looked Claire squarely in the face.

"Thought you'd given up." She said suspiciously, reaching into her pocket.

"Yeah… I did." Claire felt her cheeks burn at this – Sue had been furious when she had caught her smoking out of her dorm window one night, and so_ proud_ when Claire had given up, no mean feat considering Claire had been a smoker since the age of 10. "But now I've given up… Giving up." She finished lamely.

"Okay." Said Leanne, concealing a pack with her hand and sliding over the tabletop. Claire hesitated for a fraction of a second, she knew she was doing this to get back at Sue – it would be a petty, childish revenge… But… Trying to look natural, she stuffed the carton into her rucksack.

"How much?" She said gruffly, feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself, but knowing it was too late to change her mind.

"10." Leanne replied.

"Ten dollars?" Claire hissed, "That's ridiculous, I could get three for that price!" Leanne shrugged, she might've only been 15 but she was the only one who could get served cigarettes – and she used it to her advantage.

"Fine." Claire slammed the money onto the table and stood so suddenly it was as though she had received an electric shock. She now had just 5 left out of the 15 she was meant to be buying lunch with this week.

_Still, _she reasoned as Sue announced she would be walking with her to school today _maybe the school will catch me smoking, and I'll be expelled! Then I won't have to go anymore! _Yet her stomach still gave an uneasy twinge as Sue announced she had a good feeling about this, and hugged her goodbye at the gates of Sea View High School, _Sea View Hell School more like _Claire thought bitterly as a crowd of noisy ninth grader boys stormed past her in their hurry to make it to school on time. Bracing herself, Claire clenched her rucksack and tugged a few loose threads from her jeans, before pushing forward through the crowd and towards the entrance of the main building.

**I just wanted Jackson to appear in this (albeit briefly) to reassure you that he WILL feature in this story, maybe they'll meet in the next chapter, who knows? – Reviews would be extremely helpful (:**

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Hannah Montana© but oh, how I wish I did…_


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